"The Christmas Prayer"

(unavailable....in the permanent collection of dee day)

"The Christmas Prayer is filled with expectant hope." This beautiful relief sculpture with scroll work and Mary praying is a reminder of the expectant hope we have in the Christ child. With Christmas quickly approaching, it is good to think deeply about the reason for the season.

The technique with this photographic image is a bit different than the previous ones I've been posting. I used a bit heavier paper (Arches Cover) and applied Golden Crackle Paste randomly with a palette knife, making sure not to cover the entire surface. This was left to dry overnight. It could have been dried with a hair dryer, but the places where the paste was thicker does not set up as well unless it dries on its own.

The next step was to create a monoprint with Caran d'Ache inks. I used a mixture of Caribbean Sea and Grand Canyon (brown). The brown knocked down the intensity of the blue.

Fortunately, the thickness of the paper as well as the crackle paste made it through my printer with no problem. The texture is extremely dynamic and overall, I was pleased with the image and the vagueness of Mary praying. The last thing I did before spraying the piece with acrylic coating was add some burnt sienna and white soft pastels separately.

This is a technique worth trying so I hope I've given you a few more things to try or think about.